David Jones placed in trading halt

David Jones (ASX: DJS) was placed in an ASX trading halt this morning pending a board meeting tomorrow.

The department store chain released a statement saying the company’s strategic plan would be considered at the meeting.

“While the company does not believe that there has been any leak of confidential information by the company and that the speculation is based on publicly available information, the company considers a trading halt to be appropriate in the circumstances,” the company said.

Earlier, the Australian Financial Review reported that David Jones was preparing to confirm a 50% drop in future credit card earnings as part of a new alliance with Amex. David Jones is likely to earn about $51 million under its current agreement this year.

The newspaper said the company could flag an annual fall in credit card earnings of between $24-27 million.

The trading halt follows the retailer’s release of falling sales and profit figures last month.

The figures showed total sales were down 6.6% in the first half of the financial year 2011/12, and down 3.1% in the third quarter.

The statement says the trading halt will remain in place until an announcement on Wednesday. The retailer was last trading at $2.73.